ADVENT 2023: YET ANOTHER CHRISTMAS WITH INA

 INTRO

I live mostly in the past now and remember some things that I would not forget . . . – Great-aunt Ida Dickson Patchen, 1922

The stockings at Mother's after Santa's visit

For the first 40 years of my life, I happily celebrated Christmas at Mother’s with the extended family. It was so much fun helping Santa fill the stockings when the children were sound asleep. But when all that went away, I was not able to reproduce it for my family. I was heartbroken, but Grandma Ina came to the rescue.

We had many holiday reunions at this house.

In the eight years that our lives corresponded, I wasn’t close to Ina, my dad’s mother. She was too old, and I was too young. She disapproved of me for reasons that had nothing to do with me, but when I discovered her letters to my dad, written mostly between 1932 and 1939, she and I made peace. I came to love her and her simple, skimpy, understated Christmas. It was just what I needed.

Grandma Ina's family home at Gilbert, Idaho

“I stood it all just fine,” Ina wrote more than once, and I knew that she, too, had overcome holiday meltdowns.

So, tomorrow I begin my traditional online advent journal, celebrating the present holiday in light of a past that isn’t my own. KW

UP ON THE HOUSETOP, CLOMP-CLOMP-CLOMP

The full Beaver Moon rises.

More outdoor holiday lighting appears daily in our neighborhood, and Mike decided to join in the fun by putting lights on our front eaves. To that end, he climbed into the shop loft to retrieve the lights, and then he climbed the ladder to the housetop, working during breaks from watching football. (Saturday was an important football day.)

I tried to talk him out of this labor-intensive activity that in my opinion poses some danger, but he wanted to do it. He said he didn’t need help, so feeling considerable angst, I hid out in the house. But I could hear him clomping on the roof, and I knew it wasn’t Santa.

It IS nice to have some outdoor lights. I know Mike did it for me, for the family, and for the neighborhood. And I always think that in some small way, it even blesses the world. KW

WINTERIZING THE FARMHOUSE

Mike and I drove to the farm yesterday (Friday, Nov. 24) to winterize the house. It was foggy along the river, though visibility was fine. Being the day after Thanksgiving, traffic was light.

We stopped in Orofino to leave Mike’s shoe at the shop for repair. “Do you think they’ll be having Black Friday in Orofino,” Mike jokingly asked, and as we turned the corner onto Johnson Avenue, the scene was a far cry from the bustling little town of my youth.

As we climbed the Gilbert Grade, we drove out of the fog to find a bright, sunny day on top, though fog was still lying in the canyon. Occasionally, it would drift across the north field to be dispelled by the sun. It was actually a cold day – in the 30s – but the sun was bright and warm.

The house was chilly, but Mike lit the fireplace and also ran the wall furnace. I brought along a bottle of elderberry juice that I had frozen last year and immediately set about making a batch of elderberry apple jelly, which also helped to heat the house.

Mike serviced the generator, and then he cut the grass in the ditch on the upper part of the lane with the weed eater. That was hard work. His initial plan was to burn it out, but that was time consuming and not very effective.

I had a list of things to take back to town, the most important being my collection of Hallmark houses for the Christmas tree. “I will sacrifice taking these crates in order to take the box of ornaments,” I said, but Mike is a good packer, and we got back to town with most everything.

As our visit drew to a close, Mike turned off the water, drained the pipes, and poured antifreeze into the toilets, but we will meet the plumber at the house for further winterization. We will also empty the fridge, bring back other food, etc.

As we drove out of the farm yard, Mike spotted his gloves at the pole where he turned off the pump, and we retrieved them. At the top of the grade, he missed his phone, and we briefly considered a return to the farmhouse. However, I checked my purse and found that I had thoughtlessly picked it up with mine. The only thing we left was my list, which remains on the dining room table. These things happen to us now, but perhaps they always have.

As we traveled to town between 2:00 and 4:00, the sun was brutal. Sometimes we could hardly see the road. We vowed to avoid this situation again and travel earlier or later. KW 

THANKSGIVING GREETINGS

 

DEDICATED TO GEOCACHING

The Clearwater Paper Mill at Lewiston, Idaho (Nov. 16, 2023)

 On Wednesday, Mike asked, “What are you doing this afternoon?”

“I plan to sew. Why do you ask?”

“I thought we could geocache,” he responded.

So I put on my new hiking boots -- the cute ones with pink trim, and we set off to geocache along the bike path across the Clearwater River from the mill. We parked at the head of the path where a sign says, “Bike Path Closed.”

“It doesn’t mean us,” said Mike, but while I wasn’t sure about that, I did think that it probably wasn't policed. It's undoubtedly a warning to prevent suit in case of injury. As we walked along, we noticed pronounced cracks in the path, the kind that might catch a wheel and throw a cyclist. (You might also stub your toe, I suppose.) Mike remarked that he hadn’t ridden on this section of the path in years due to the infestation of puncture weeds (goat heads).

Semi-pro tree climber

The most interesting cache was in a tree. We were supposed to have brought something to pull it down, but since we didn’t, Mike stripped off his coat and climbed the tree. (I marvel because this is a man who was flat on his back in pain last month and thought his life was over.) He retrieved the cache, and no harm done.

We had other errands, so as the sun was low in the sky, we gave it up. But the next day, Mike asked, “What are your plans for the afternoon?”

“Sewing,” I answered, not even trying to keep the frustration out of my voice. “Why do you ask?”

“I thought we could go out and get the rest of the caches,” Mike responded.

So, that’s what we did, of course. We parked a mile and a half from our previous starting point and set to it. It involved a lot of walking, and it made a good change of scene from our usual neighborhood route.

An autumn scene

Again, we were out several hours and found three or four caches. The first cache, located near our parking spot, eluded us. Mike found the second one but left his gloves behind and had to retrieve them before we left the area. (It’s bound to be something left behind on every excursion.) It was quite a walk to the farthest cache, which Mike found -- a tiny magnetic container on a fence, and when he went to replace it, he thought he dropped it. What a nightmare! We searched and searched in the dirt, but when he doublechecked, he found it stuck to the fence. He hadn’t dropped it after all!

Back at the car, I decided to look again for the first cache, and I found it!

This afternoon will find me in the sewing room while Mike and a friend ride motorcycles. Maybe I’ll even sew. KW

UP AND RUNNING

Technicians relit our gas appliances at 9:20 this morning. As soon as the water was hot, I ran the dishwasher and then tackled that mountain of laundry. Tonight we will enjoy our showers. Tomorrow I will do two more loads of laundry. 

I'm glad it's over. Moving on. KW

STILL WAITING

When we first heard about the natural gas outage affecting our region, it was late Wednesday afternoon (Nov. 8). Checking his phone for notifications before his shower, Mike remarked, “What! We don’t have hot water!” I was washing a few dishes, but the water was still warm and I hadn’t noticed.

“Let’s take quick showers while we still have warm water,” said Mike. He washed by turning the water on and off. My concession was just to hurry and not to wash my hair.

It’s interesting how various households were affected. Most furnaces are gas, so people were without heat. Fortunately, it’s not super cold right now. While we have no hot water, we can cook and we can heat water. Friends had hot water but couldn’t cook. (Long live the microwave!) On the other hand, son Murray was able to heat his small apartment by baking. His lattice-top pie and wheat rolls were beautiful!

The outage was mostly an inconvenience for us. We usually turn on the furnace to warm the house in the morning, and then we adjourn to our separate rooms where we have space heaters. Later in the day, Mike lights the little woodstove to make the dark hours cozy. So, we missed the furnace step, and just lit the stove earlier. BUT – we didn’t have hot water, and we missed it. We couldn’t take showers or run the dishwasher. I could have washed the laundry in cold water, but I didn’t bother since we have a gas dryer.

So, the worst of it was that we couldn’t take showers. I said I would stand on a ladder above the shower and pour water over Mike, but he declined my offer. So, we were glad enough to escape to the farm Friday afternoon (Nov. 10). We luxuriated – luxuriated, I say – in warm showers. I washed my hair and Mike scrubbed his scalp. As much as anything, a nice warm shower warms us on a cold day.

We returned to town from the farm early yesterday morning in order to be at the house for the scheduled relight process. They still hadn’t come when it was time for Mike’s shower, so he took me up on my previous offer to pour water over him. I stood on a sturdy stool and poured warm water from our garden sprinkling can.

As of this writing, we still await service. I note that those who were relit early in the process feel relieved and grateful to Avista, but those of us who are still waiting realize that the schedule was overly ambitious.

But – when I think of the devastation suffered in the world, I just count my blessings. We endure some frustrating inconvenience – that’s all. KW

COPING WITH NATURAL GAS OUTAGE

Our red maple

Someone working with an excavator north of Pullman, WA, on Wednesday (Nov. 8) cut the gasline that supplies our region. Here at our town house, our water heater, furnace, and dryer are all gas. We count our blessings that we have an electric stove, a small woodburning stove (and plenty of wood), and space heaters. For us, it’s a matter of inconvenience. It could be worse.

Above Moscow

Schools, businesses, and restaurants have shut down for the duration. Even if the gasline is repaired today, it may still be several days before issues are resolved, including that Avista, our power utility, must visit each home or business to turn on the gas at the meter and relight the pilots. We can’t do it ourselves, they say.

Now I’m taking dishes from the dishwasher and washing them by hand. I have a stockpot and a teakettle of water heating on the stove. (So grateful our stove is electric.) I put two quarts of water from the simmering pot into the sink and added just enough cold water so that I could tolerate it, testing it carefully with my fingers. Then I replenished the pot with water from the teakettle, and heated the teakettle again. The dishes get a lukewarm rinse in the other sink.

Suddenly, I could see my mother doing the dishes at the farm when I was a youngster. This was the way she managed the water, and somehow I remembered.

Until we have hot water again, we will have to take sponge baths. I will miss my evening shower, but again, when I was a child, we didn’t bathe every night like we do now. 

The photos here were taken yesterday when Mike and I made a trip to Moscow. Mike left a new boot at Peck’s Shoe Clinic to have a lift inserted in the sole, and then we found several geocaches and left some snuggle flannel scraps from my stash at Chris’ house, my contribution to the blankets and bibs she makes and donates. We drove back to the Valley on the Old Spiral Highway. Since it was noon, it was not the best time of day to take photos. KW

TIME CHANGE CONFUSION

Not only have we fallen back to standard time but the days are cloudy and dark. Being a rational individual, I can deal with an inner clock that’s a little confused, but Bess is another story. Mike wants to take her for her afternoon walk between 4:00 and 5:00, but  as the days grow shorter, Bess wants to go earlier. She now begins to whine, beg, and mope at 2:30. If we walk her early, she wants her dinner early. One thing is certain -- she must begin to wear her fluorescent collar.

As mentioned in a previous post, daughter Hallie was successful in finding snuggle flannel in a discontinued design, “Monkeys Riding Bicycles,” so that she could replace Silas’ “lovey,” which had become a rag. The fabric, found on eBay, had actually been hemmed as a blanket already, but it was big enough that she could cut it to the needed size. After she hemmed it last weekend, they were ready to make the switch. While Hallie and Silas were out of the house, Nick spirited Old Monkey away, leaving New Monkey in its place. Hallie reported that Silas continues to interact with New Monkey and hasn’t noticed a difference. However, it was unacceptable when I sent a blanket in a different monkey print, so those monkeys on bikes evidently appeal to him.

It looks and feels like fall now. The purple ash tree has dropped all its leaves, and now the maple is turning color.

I set out my Thanksgiving things on the display stand. I’m not sure all these things belong on the same stand, but they make me happy, and that’s what counts.

And here’s the 10-minute table runner I made on a Thanksgiving theme. It took me three hours, but hey! – I started it, and I finished it, and I used fabric from my stash. KW

 

UP NEXT: THANKSGIVING

Halloween is over, and now we think of Thanksgiving. Some years back, comments on this blog encouraged me to appreciate Thanksgiving as a holiday rather than letting it be absorbed into Christmas. Thanksgiving is just three weeks away – the 23^rd. I love a year that gives me a week between Thanksgiving and the first of December.

Mike and I barely kept our own Halloween traditions this year. We didn’t go out and no one came. We had leftovers instead of chili for supper, but I did make a pie with the pulp of the mini sugar pumpkins I grew. The filling was a little watery, so I added an extra egg and a tablespoon of cornstarch. I didn’t think ½ cup of sugar was quite enough, so I added ¼ cup of brown sugar. And then I baked it with a streusel topping. Mike pronounced it delicious. That’s all that matters.

We did delight in photos of little Silas trick-or-treating for the first time with his mother. The little ones are so cute.

I was thinking today of how I used to look forward to Rosauer’s (grocery store) annual post-Halloween 3-day holiday baking sale. The prices were good, but it was the festive atmosphere that made it fun. Then Winco opened a store here with consistently lower prices, and that was the end of Rosauer’s baking sale. Oh, they still have a baking sale, but it’s just not the same.

And I also miss the Owl Drugstore’s holiday decorations and festivities. They closed out their gift department, and now they don’t so much as hang a string of lights to greet the holiday season. It seems doubly dark during the holidays since it used to be beautifully decorated. Now they only serve pharmacy customers, and if you have to wait for your prescription, it’s a boring place to wait.

And there’s no holiday spirit at the old shopping center either. Penney’s and Macy’s both closed, and that’s that.

But then, isn’t that the way? We can’t go back. We have to go forward and start new traditions. KW